Drag Week 2013 by the Numbers

The 250 spots available to racers wishing to enter HOT ROD Drag Week 2013™ sold out in just eight hours, and the list included seven Canadians, two Australians, and a guy from the UK. It also included 88 Daily Driver class cars, a group limited by a 10.80 e.t. cap with the winner determined by a 32-car bracket race on the last day. When we went to print, there were another 127 racers sweating it out on the waiting list and hoping more than a few entrants would fail to finish their cars before the start of Drag Week™. No one has dropped out yet, but as we get closer to race day, we expect the volume of no-shows to be significant, opening up slots for other entries. Here is a breakdown of how many cars are entered in each class and a few rumors about the movers and shakers and what they have been up to this winter.

Unlimited

In Drag Week’s™ top class, 19 racers will try to run a low-7 second average, dip into the 6s if possible, and beat six-time champ Larry Larson. Larson upgraded his turbos; 2012 runner-up Jeff Lutz upgraded his fire suit. According to Larson, Doug Cline, who found the wall in his Camaro during a test-’n’-tune session before Drag Week 2012™, has the potential to run 6.70s if the tracks will cooperate and his luck holds out.

2/4Unlimited racer Doug Cline has had nothing but bad luck at Drag Week™ the last few years. We hope that with his chassis builder, Larry Larson, along for the ride, his journey in 2013 will be a smooth one. Larry claims he’s bringing his legendary Nova but also said he’s riding with Cline. We’ll see how that really turns out on race day.

Gasser/AFX

Now in its third year, this class has lured 10 door-slammer, ’60s-style racers into the fold. Veterans Keith Fox, Mike Cox, and Keith Harrison are back along with seven other period-looking cars that look like they are doing wheelies standing still.

Hot Rod

Tom Dziengel had a lonely time in the Hot Rod class in 2012. He won with a 12.60 average after Bob Larson chewed up an axle in his 1938 Dodge rat rod. Larson is back, and Fred Cullon Jr. has entered his ’40 Ford business coupe. All three cars are capable of 12-second passes, so this should be a tight race if they can all make it to the last day.

Modified Naturally Aspirated

Seven entries, and six will be chasing Raymond Meyer’s 1967 Barracuda. We hope he’s updated his ’cage so he doesn’t have to lift at 1,000 feet to win again this year.

Modified Power-Adder

Bryant Goldstone is back in his 1970 Chevelle, and Todd Maschmeier and seven others will be hunting him all week. Maschmeier ran a nitrous big-block Chevy into 7.60 territory last year before breaking. He’s working on a twin-turbo combo that might not be ready in time. Either way, he says he’ll be there trying to be the first guy to run 200 mph at Drag Week™ on small tires.

Pro Street Naturally Aspirated

Doc McIntire won the class in 2012 in his first-gen Camaro with an average boosted by a couple of high-8-second passes, a first for any car in the class that’s actually finished Drag Week™. He’s taking the year off, and, coincidentally, Eddie “Elvis” Miller is bringing his purple Duster out to rewrite the Pro Street NA record books. Those are his words. Remember Eddie? He won Drag Week™ in ’06 with the quickest overall average using nitrous. We’ll see how well he does with an NA combo.

Pro Street Power-Adder

Eric Yost won the class in 2012 in a third-gen Firebird, sold the car, and left the class. Runner-up Mike Roy is back, though, with his behemoth Monte Carlo and eight other racers looking to take him down.

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Street Race Big-Block Naturally Aspirated

Bill Fowler owned this class last year in his 1971 Mustang convertible and looked good doing so. We watched him run in the 9s with a straw hat atop his helmet. He’s been talking about jumping out of SRBBNA and running Street Race Big-Block Power-Adder with a new Wilson tunnel-ram direct-port nitrous system and EFI. The good news is that there are 16 other racers ready to take up the cause of the SRBBNA class.

4/4The tennis-ball-size ports on Bill Fowler’s A460 big-block Ford tunnel-ram now sport Wilson EFI and a nitrous system. It’s good for 500 hp, and the power can be added progressively. Will he use it or stay in Street Race Big-Block NA?

Street Race Big-Block Power-Adder

In 2012, John Monast took the win with a 10.30 average, and Martin Lewis nabbed Second Place with a 10.62 average. Monast may not be back, and rumors have it that Lewis’ 1972 Chevelle is now capable of 9-second e.t.’s, which should give the six other racers fits.

Street Race Small-Block Naturally Aspirated

Jake Stelter won with a 9.96 average in 2012 and is coming back with a new engine combo in his red ’67 Chevelle. There are 11 other racers in the class, including Mike Crow, whose 1969 Dart finished with an average two-tenths behind Stelter’s.

Street Race Small-Block Power-Adder

This class is huge! There are 29 turbo, nitrous, and supercharged cars entered, and 28 of them will be trying to catch Jon Wischmann and his ’95 Mustang, who won in 2012 with an 8.95 average.

Super Street Small-Block Naturally Aspirated

Jeff McConnell finished Drag Week 2012™ after repairing his cylinder heads with beer cans, running in the 9s, and beating Second Place finisher Dustin Trance by more then half a second. He’s back, but there’s a new player named Andrew Sampson with an ’82 Mazda RX-7 that supposedly runs high-8-second passes, so we’ll see how it goes this year. The only other car in the class is Michael Moore’s 1957 Ford Custom, which reportedly runs in the 11s.

Super Street Big-Block Naturally Aspirated

Attrition helped Steve Satterlee win this class in 2012 in his ’90 Mustang with a 12.01 average. He began the week with low-10-second passes and came from Third Place to First after Vince Rasch and Ken Barkley failed to finish. He’s upped his game to get into the 9s since then, and Vince is back along with five other competitors that are bent on beating him.

Super Street Power-Adder

Rick Prospero, Tim Reed, and Keith Lopez made this one a hoot to watch last season. Reed isn’t racing his well-known Pinto, and we know Lopez upgraded his Fairmont wagon with twin turbos to try and take out Prospero’s Nova wagon, which won with an 8.06 average. Prospero will have 13 other racers to contend with if he’s going to repeat.

Come Watch the Fun

Drag Week™ is open to spectators, and you’ll find our host tracks to be the most hospitable places to watch wheels-up drag action. Tickets are available at the gate for just $5 Monday through Thursday and for $10 during the finals on Friday.

*Note: Racers must be in line for registration no later than 2:00p.m., firm.

Factoids

The first commercial dragstrip was founded by CJ “Pappy” Hart and Creighton Hunter on an unused runway of the Orange County airport in 1950. The Santa Ana Dragstrip had a crude timing system, was a quarter-mile in length, and it cost just $0.50 to watch the action.

Drag Week™ was founded by the HOT ROD staff in 2005.

The first Drag Week™ ran from Kansas City International Raceway (now closed) to U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan. Afterwards, the event has started and ended at the same location so that trucks and trailers can be left behind, reducing the opportunity for racers to be followed by chase vehicles.